Arsonist climbed into cupboard after abusing firefighters

Anthony Grey's bizarre behaviour came as 999 crews fought to control the flames coming from a mattress he had set alight.

A court heard that firefighters were met with a torrent of abuse when they turned up at the flats complex in Redcar, east Cleveland.

A dog-walker had seen a glow coming from a ground-floor property, tried to tackle the blaze and called the emergency services.

The passer-by was praised for his bravery by a Teesside Crown Court judge as he jailed Grey for four-and-a-half years.

Judge Howard Crowson told the 25-year-old: "There was a very significant risk of harm to other people, but that was averted by your neighbour's sensible and swift actions.

"He realised you had set a fire in your room, he entered and deserves great credit for what he did.

The arson in the three-storey block in Harwell Road, Redcar, in the early hours of May 22 was just a week after Grey torched a car in Middlesbrough.

Grey and another man were disturbed sneaking around in the dead of night, and a householder tackled them with a pick-axe handle.

The man struck Grey with the weapon twice, but the would-be burglar's accomplice threw a coping stone at him, which hit him on the head and knocked him to the ground.

Prosecutor Liam O'Brien said the bleeding householder was hit with another coping stone and had five more thrown at him before he crawled home to raise the alarm with his wife.

Mr O'Brien said "not thinking the score had been settled", Grey returned and set fire to the couple's Honda Civic CRV.

Grey, now of Matterson Close, Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire, later admitted arson and using threatening words or behaviour on May 14, and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered a week later.

His barrister, Amrit Jandoo, said he was "delirious" when he started the blaze on his mattress, and climbing into the cupboard "shows the extent of his substance misuse".

He added: "It is something he hugely regrets. He is very sorry."